Monday, July 31, 2017

Vail to Santa Fe

Yesterday after our brunch at the top of the mountain we all took naps to rest up for the evening's entertainment.  At 6PM we headed to the Four Seasons to their aptly named bar: Remedy.  I love the  name and wondered if they opened at 4AM in the morning!  We grabbed a front table and people watched until the act of the evening arrived for an 8PM performance.  For 23 years there has been Vail Jazz and for 21 of those years "Tony G" has been a mainstay.  Two keyboards, drums, and at times a Melodium and a Metallium (?) - having trouble remembering the name since it is not a common instrument.  They played for over two hours with one short break - absolutely a wonderful evening!  We cannot say more about how good they were.






Sorry to leave beautiful Vail but more adventure was waiting!  I decided to take one last photo in Vail - the view from our friends' living room.  It was hard to leave...



We travelled on the Top of the Rockies Scenic Byway. The scenery again overwhelmed us.  It was fascinating to see the engineering of several dams plus the manmade lakes along the way.  We stopped at a scenic overlook that had a marker for towns that had been flooded when the dans were built - one has a Masonic Temple that was at the highest altitude of all temples: 10500 feet and I was standing well above where that town had been.









The city of Leadville was a surprise.  It is the highest city in the Rockies and is beautiful!  









The landscape changed over the next 50 miles or so from the gorgeous mountains to scrubby mountains to pretty flat terrain.  We passed three mountains named Yale, Harvard, and Princeton - that was anitger surprise.









And then we came to 100 miles of sleep inducing monotonous sagebrush covered land.  Seems every state has its roads passing through boring terrain.  A stop for coffee revved up tge somnolent driver abd we got to Santa Fe in record time - just in time for anafternoon  shower.



You can see the rain getting ready.  Tomorrw we are off to Taos.

Sunday, July 30, 2017

Colorado!

We sadly left Cheyenne and in less than half an hour we were in Colorado.  Somehow the grasses seemed greener just across the border and the road shoulders were strewn with sunflowers.



Lots of flatland for agriculture - pinto beans are a big crop along with, of course, corn!  Miles of fields and many big grain towers.  We have promised ourselves that someday we will learn how they work.  In the town of Nunn we came across a camper trailer graveyard - had to stop for photos and send them to Ronnie, our renovator extraordinaire.







There were also about 20 Studebaker Larks in various stages of disrepair.  You never know what you will discover on back roads.

Passed by Denver and it rained on us - first time we have had to drive in the rain in over four weeks.  Maybe that is why the grasses are greener?  On I 70 the traffic got heavier - everyone is on their way to wonderful places!  And the scenery got prettier.









Arrived in Vail and parked Hilda in a free lot and found our friends' address.  Their condo is in the heart of Vail and here is the evening view from our room:


 
Their living room looks out to the Gondola to the mountain top!  Thought I would like to move here but the altitude is not being nice to me...  Could I adapt?

Here are the views from the mountain top where we had brunch today.





So back to my favorite things to photograph:



I would love to have one of these in South Carolina!

We leave Vail tomorrow and will be in Santa Fe for two nights.

Saturday, July 29, 2017

Late Cheyenne Post

Wifi was not working at all in Cheyenne and when we found more than three Verizon bars, my battery was gone.  So to remember from Wednesday to Saturday will be tricky!

Went to the Rodeo on Wednesday and Friday - the arena is HUGE!  Frontier Days - definitely more than rodeo.  Concerts, amusement rides, pioneer village, Indian village, and a hundred places to buy Western gear were all there.  During the rodeo they had wild west reenactments, trick riding, trick roping, stage coach robberies - and a wild horse race!  Have to admit it was HOT during the rodeo - dry heat feels just as hot as wet heat and add altitude to that and I was thankful for golf carts and motorized scooters - yes, I admitted to feeling it all...









The Navy Seals sent in their parachute team on Friday.  It was so great to see them land in the arena!  The night before they landed after the concert with fireworks!

On Wednesday there was supposed to be an Air Show with the Thunderbirds - unfortunately it was fogged in and did not take place.

Thursday morning we went to the parade - one of four during Frontier Days.  What fun it was!  You name it, it was in the parade!!!









And there was more!









After the Parade we toured the Cowgirls Museum - I was born far too late...  Then we took a trolley tour of the city.  There are several historic areas - Cattle Baron houses, Millionaires Row, and then some with unique architecture such as the house a four foot ten inch man built - tiny house number one!   Would like to have toured the capitol building but it is undergoing renovations.  



The Wrangler store is the place to buy your boots, shirts and jeans.


Above is a photo of some of the well maintained buildings in the downtown historic area.   There is also the Atlas Theatre, built in 1887, that is being restored and is still being used for theatre productions.  Of course we had to attend the "Melodrama" - a spoof that    has been performed for 61 years during Frontier Days. It was so bad it was great!

We had a full three days in Cheyenne - a great city with friendly people.  We just might have to plan another trip to see the rhings we missed.

Tuesday, July 25, 2017

Cheyenne Frontier Days

A lot of people are on their way to Cheyenne - or maybe they are already here!  The Cheyenne Frontier Days have been going on yearly for 121 years!  The city is decked out in preparation for four parades, an air show, concerts every night as well as the largest outdoor rodeo in the world.  We toured the historic downtown area - imagine a four story parking garage that looks like the buildings nearby that were built between 1900 and 1920 - and the parking is free!  love when a city plans for tourism.  Here are some of my favorite things so far.




Did not know this was the 150th year for Cheyenne!


Union Pacific Train Depot built in 1889 and given to the city in the mid 1990s.  Now a museum.





Besides being the first state to allow women to vote, Wyoming also elected the first female governor in 1925.



Well preserved buildings from the early 1900s.



You can buy anything Western here.





 
Except we cannot buy these boots!